In a recent interview on OutKick, Riley Gaines relived the April day when she was “ambushed” by protesters at San Francisco State University following a speech to students about saving women’s sports on the campus.
The former NCAA swimmer has been outspoken about transgender women participating in female sports, having competed against Lia Thomas, and was at the school last spring to speak on the issue.
Gaines said at the time she feared for her life, and reiterated that stance when discussing the incident with OutKick’s Charly Arnolt.
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Riley Gaines gives a speech at Penn State University on Tuesday. (Riley Gaines)
“Listening to what they were chanting, what they wanted to do to me, how they were going to injure me and kill me and hurt me and all those different things, I did fear for my life,” Gaines said Friday.
However, Gaines says that any physical attacks from the protesters don’t hurt at all.
“But truthfully, their punches don’t hurt that bad, which is pretty telling,” she said. “Men in dresses, I’m sorry, your punches just don’t hurt.”
Riley Gaines reads to children at a library in Hendersonville, Tennessee, on Feb. 25, 2023. (Brave Books)
Gaines recently appeared at Penn State University for a Real Women’s Day event. During her speech on the campus, two people were detained by police, with one officer saying they were arrested for disorderly conduct.
The two individuals approached a table on campus, with one of them knocking objects off it and the other flipping it over.
Dozens of protesters arrived at Gaines’ speech, chanting “trans lives matter.“
Riley Gaines speaks at Penn State University on Tuesday. (Riley Gaines)
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The former collegiate swimmer posted a video in which Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi previously explained that, as a public university, the school is “bound by the First Amendment” to allow speakers “that many will consider controversial, either because their views are not widely held or because a speaker espouses ideas that are actively hateful.” A school professor also said Gaines has “espoused hateful messages.”